Pinal County officials announced on Apr. 14 that a scam is targeting individuals applying for planning and zoning services with Development Services.
The county said the scam involves emails sent to applicants, pretending to be from members of the Development Services Planning department, asking for large payments labeled as ‘Application Approval Fees.’ These emails include invoices with the Pinal County logo and specific application information to appear authentic. The messages are sent from an address that is not a genuine Pinal County email account.
Authorities have started investigating after being alerted about the fraudulent activity. The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office and Pinal County Attorney’s Office are involved in looking into these incidents. “Pinal County Development Services never requests payment in this form. If you receive any such emails, please do not respond to the email or process any payments. Please contact Angela Sanchez at [email protected] or 520-866-6045 should you receive one of these emails, or have any questions,” officials said.
This warning comes as educational outcomes in Pinal County show challenges for students. For example, 76.3% of students in grades 3 through 8 did not pass the mathematics section of the AASA during the 2022-23 school year, while 81% of high schoolers failed the mathematics section of that year’s ACT exam according to state education data. English proficiency rates were also low: 69.7% of grades 3 through 8 students failed their English AASA assessment and 73% of high schoolers did not pass their ACT English test.
Recent results indicate some improvement: 17% of high schoolers passed math on the ACT during the 2023-24 academic year, and 23% of third through eighth graders passed math on that year’s AASA exam.
Officials urge anyone who receives suspicious payment requests related to planning applications to avoid responding or sending money, and instead contact county authorities directly.
